The True Science of GratitudeEvery Monday, Micheal Easter's 2% Substack newsletter is free. This week, with Thanksgiving bearing down on us, Easter explores the science of gratitude. Thanksgiving is supposed to be our time to slow down and be thankful for what we have. The irony of this is that our brains are hardwired to want more, always want more. Easter does a deep dive into this in his book Scarcity Brain. I finished reading it last month and I highly recommend it. In Monday's free 2% Substack post, Easter asserts that: Gratitude requires recognizing and appreciating the role of luck and freebies in life, but it’s not our default setting. The American Psychological Association calls our desire to acquire the hedonic treadmill theory. It basically means that we adapt to having the special thing we grateful for and then it becomes part of our everyday experience. The special becomes banal. Through science literature search, Easter discovered that profound and lasting gratitude comes from specific actions, and none of them include keeping a gratitude journal, publicly expressing gratitude or being grateful for the mundane. So, how do we truly and profoundly find and express gratitude? Rather than a celebration of abundance, we should occasionally experience scarcity. According to Easter, "Only when you go without can you realize how great it is to have and just how much of the modern world is undeniably amazing." You can read the entire article here.
0 Comments
Linda, Why Do You CrossFit?1. What was your fitness life like before you started training with True Spirit CrossFit?
I wasn’t a gym person before joining TSCF. I had a few brief samplings of gyms over the years and was never impressed. My philosophy was keep fit for life by staying active in daily life, and hike, bike, ski for fun and fitness. Through this I kept some aerobic fitness, but I was losing muscle, strength and mobility with age. My son, TSCF member Thomas, was convinced I would enjoy CrossFit if I tried it. 2. What brought you to True Spirit CrossFit in the first place? A broken leg. A son that knew better than I did what I needed to gain back fitness from 3 months of none weight bearing on the leg. A paradigm shift: some gym memberships are worth fitting in the budget. 3. What was your first impression? Somewhat awed by the super-athleticism of some of the members (there were some super bad-ass girls in 6am class back then). I must admit that I felt pretty pathetic with my mega-scaling, but excused myself owing to my 'senior' status. I continue to admire the gym super--athletes (male and female), but no longer hide behind my age and I feel pretty pleased with where I am on my fitness journey. I now know to embrace the scalings, but those occasional Rx workouts do feel pretty sweet. 4. What was the first thing fun or positive thing you experienced while training with us? In first few weeks I ran a mile--I didn't know I still had a mile run in me. 5. Are you working on any special CrossFit related skill now? I never stop working on double--unders and rope climbs, both of which regularly regress back to ground zero. I would really feel more positive about calling my push up, a true push up if I could tighten the core and stop the 'sway' back. But currently my 'biggie' is working on my squat 'mobility'. To get better strength, stability, and form in air squats and other squats, I need to work on ankle, hip, 'back' mobility and core strength. (This realization emerged during mobility month.) 6. How has you life changed since training with TSCF? Definitely physically stronger and therefore more capable in the activities I participate in--yard/garden/land, skiing, hiking, (biking). I feel like I know my body better than I have ever know it. 7. What's your favorite True Spirit CrossFit memory? Maybe when TSCF hosted Festivus. After signing up, I got pretty freaked out about my ability to participate, but the level of mutual support and encouragement was in high gear, and I did fine. Lil' OLD me a cross fit competitor--who'd ever have thought it!!! Myth: Winter Holiday Weight Gain is InevitableThanksgiving starts the 6 weeks winter holiday eating season. You don't have to gain weight this year. Weight gain is OPTIONAL, and to opt out successfully you need a plan. If you really want to avoid gaining weight this winter, you MUST have a plan. Failure to make a plan is planning to fail. Or, in this case, planning to gain. What does a plan look like? It's includes knowing ahead of time how you will respond to predictable situations. For example: Do you know how you will politely say no when your mom offers you a third slice of pie? Do you know how you will navigate your fourth holiday party of the weekend without consuming your 15th alcoholic drink in 2 days? How will you eat the rest of the week after a weekend bender of egg nog and Christmas cookies? How much water should you drink? How much protein should you eat? Lucky for us all, Working Against Gravity has published a holiday survival guide. You don't need to eat every single holiday cookie to enjoy the season, nor do you need to keep a bag of baby carrots hanging around your neck. You can have your fruit cake and eat it, too. The WAG guide will show you how. The winter holidays are fun and stressful. This year why not create a plan that will help you navigate the churning seas of eggnog and pumpkin pie? |
Special EventsRecord your WOD on Beyond the Whiteboard.
Do you need CrossFit or yoga gear? Click on the links below to buy through our GORUCK, Reebok, Rogue or Affiliate share sale programs. These are affiliate links and our gym will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links.
Check out our Flickr page!
Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|